Brothers Gone Astray
by Reyun
Summary: When Atem and Yugi are orphaned as young boys, Atem takes it upon himself to keep his promise to his father and protect Yugi. Following their lives from then forward.
1. Up In Flames

Two boys stand helpless in the center of their collapsing home. The building had caught fire and the smoke had reached them before their father could.

"Papa!" The older of the two called out into the roaring flames! his brother clutched close to his side.

"Boys!" A choked voice called back. Something was trying to come toward them. The younger boy was whimpering by now, the heat making him uncomfortable. They were both terrified. What was going on? Where was Papa?

"Boys!" The voice called again, closer now. The oldest turned to the voice, seeing a clear enough path out of this room and hopefully the house. Their father helped them through, managing somehow to get his two sons out safely. A golden pendant clutched in his one hand as he led his eldest son with the other.

His sons stood in awe of the flames engulfing their home, lingered in the doorway just a moment too long. The ceiling collapsed on the man, pinning him to the ground in that spot and earning a loud cry from his children.

"Papa!" He screamed, rushing over with his baby brother not far behind. Before saying a single word the man tossed the golden pendant toward his eldest son. The boy had always seemed interested in it. The boy's crimson eyes locked on the gold before looking up tear filled at his father. "D-does this mean..?"

"Promise me you'll keep your brother safe." The man pleaded. The boy simply nodded and backed a bit away from the burning building. His father sad no more but seemed to try giving his boys one last smile before it was all over.

By now little Yugi was crying hysterically and Atem tried desperately to calm him as his own tears fell.

Papa was gone.

They were on their own.

But what could two boys whose ages combined still didn't put them in the double digits hope to do on such a cold night?

They didn't know.

Eventually the fire burned itself out, leaving both boys in the dark of the night. Atem moved to pick up the pendant his father had tossed to him and with a determined look in his young crimson eyes he set off with his little brother to make good on his promise.

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So there you have it, my first attempt at putting up some of my work. Tell me what you think and if I should continue.


	2. New Friends

Thanks to all of you guys for reading and the reviews I've gotten. Been a little all over the place lately but hope you enjoy this update even though it took an unreasonably long time to put up. Sorry.

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They wandered the streets of Domino early that morning, Yugi falling behind as exhaustion hit his tiny frame. Atem needed to find a safe place for them to rest, he had to do something.

As he thought this a building came into view. He didn't bother looking for any indication of the building's use but could assume that the inside was warm and cozy enough for them for now.

It was still early as they approached the grounds and tried a door. it didn't open for them but the knocking of the pendant against the surface had gotten someone's attention. Yugi whined and hid behind Atem as footsteps neared and the door finally opened.

The woman who opened the door looked down at the boys with concern immediately. The poor things smelled like smoke and looked like they could sleep for days if given the chance.

"Hello, Sweetheart. Can I help you?" She asked, the older of the two cleared his throat to answer but had misjudged his own exhaustion as he nearly collapse at the woman's feet. He stumbled, righting himself enough to not drag Yugi down with him. The woman noticed and decided it would be easiest just to bring them inside.

"Okay, let's get you two upstairs to rest." Another woman was called to help them to a room containing two bunk beds, one against either wall. Two boys lay asleep in the bunks on one side. Atem and Yugi tried to climb directly into the beds and before anyone could tell them otherwise both boys were fast asleep. No one wanted to create a fuss by making them stay up any longer so it was decided that any information that could be obtained from the youngsters would have to wait until they were fully rested and willing to cooperate.

The boys in the opposite bed woke a few hours later, confused by the sudden presence of some star haired things resting in their room. The smaller of these two boys, with his long black hair and curious eyes ventured over to the opposite side of the room. The older boy watched from his bed, blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. If either of these strangers touched his brother they would pay.

The younger reached out to touch the sleeping form on the lower bed and gasped as it shifted, pulling his hand away.

"Mokuba." The blue eyed boy warned.

"But, Seto..." The small tried to argue.

The little mass on the bed continued to shift, pushing the blankets away and sitting up. Small hands rubbed at his tired violet eyes and he tilted his head at the other boys. Where was he again, where was his brother?

"...'tem.." He whined, gaining a raised eyebrow from the brothers opposite him.

A soft groan left the pile of blankets on the top bunk and a second star headed boy sat up.

"Yu-gi?" He mumbled, as he caught sight of the two strangers across from them. Where were they again? Who were those other boys? Why was Yugi upset?

"Yugi?" The raven haired boy asked, so that was the smaller one's name? Could he be a new friend? Someone who wouldn't be mean and push him or steal his toys?

"Huh?" Yugi turned at the sound of his name, leaving Atem to drowsily climb his way down to join the others.

"Hi." The youngest boy finally greeted. "'m Mokuba."

"Mo-ku-ba?" Young Yugi questioned, trying to pronounce the name just right.

The two older boys were left to eye eachother suspiciously, silently daring the other to harm his younger brother. All four of the boys were rather young, the two star headed boys looking even younger in comparison because of their size.

"Mhm. Das Seto. My big brover." Mokuba replied with a gesture towards Seto.

"Tem is mine." Yugi replied as he pointed at Atem.

"You two don't exactly look related." Seto commented. "If not for your hair I'd say you were barely friends."

"You're one to talk." Atem spat. "You two look even less alike."

"No fighting!" Yugi and Mokuba whined in unison.

Both of the arguing boys sighed and resigned themselves to simply glaring at eachother.

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Sorry about the long wait for this crap. I'll try to keep updates a little more frequent and make this better from hre on out.


	3. Start The Search

Here we go, chapter 3. Thank everyone who has been following this so far, Reviews are always welcome and hopefully I'll have more regular updates for all of you as we move forward. The semester is coming to a close and even with work I should be able to give you more regular updates.

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The Kame Game shop was quiet that morning, Soguroku sat at the kitchen table with the morning paper and a cup of freshly made tea. He read over the story, eyes slowly widening and hands shaking as he continued on. The report told of a fire the night before, the picture showing a charred pile of what used to be the home. The owner of the home was the detail _that_ caught him off guard.

_His former son-in-law._

He raced upstairs as best he could, knocking on his daughter's room door and hoping to get her attention quickly. He read over the story again, surprised to find that the man had been in custody of two young boys. He had never been completely certain but he had suspected his daughter had had children with the man. It was assumed the children were dead as well but no one could be sure.

If the boys were alive he wanted to find them, the poor things could use some comfort after an event like that.

After a long moment the door opened, revealing brunette as she rubbed the last bit of sleep from her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

The man nearly thrust the page in her face, pointing at what he thought was the story of importance.

"They caught another mediocre criminal...very interesting." She mumbled.

"What?" He looked at the page where his finger was, moving it to the correct story. "No, this one."

Her eyes skimmed this story, finding nothing interesting until...

"No." She breathed. She couldn't believe this could have happened to him. She read on to try finding information on the boys in his custody, at least something on her little Yuugi. Nothing definite, they could still be alive, both of them. They could be hurt, lost, hungry. Oh she hoped someone had found them and brought them somewhere safe.

"We need to find them." Soguroku declared.

"They could be anywhere by now."

"The sooner we start looking, the better."

She nodded, going back into her room to retrieve a picture of her, the boys, and her ex-husband. They could use it to ask around, the make flyers, anything that might help locate them.

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Its pretty short, I know but here's a little something to hold you guys over while I finish up college stuff. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated, thank all of you guys fir taking a look at this over the months.

Hopefully I'll see you all again soon with a new chapter.


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